Dare
by MidnightUnderMoonlight
Summary: “C’mon, then,” she challenged, eyes blazing. “I dare you tell us to not be who we are. I dare you to oppress us. Tell us to walk through fire.” OneShot about the crew and, in particular, Nami. Rated for language.


One Piece: Dare

_**(A/N):**_

_**- Dedicated to all the characters, particularly Nami.**_

_**- Muses together elements of the original and the dubbed series, like their English names and their Japanese tendency to curse J.**_

_**- Inspired by the song "I Dare You" by Shinedown. Check it out! I think it suits the dark sides of our main One Piece characters very well. I even incorporated some of the lyrics into this story.**_

'_I dare them.'_

'_I dare them all.'_

'_I dare them to challenge us; to defy us; to try to bring us down and tell us we can't be who we are.'_

Nami stood strong, her feet spread shoulder width apart and her hands curled around her staff.

"It figures you'd pick an island full pirate hunters."

She abruptly snapped her head to her left, glaring at Zoro.

"Don't blame Nami for this, you lettuce-headed hypocrite!" Sanji practically chewed off his cigarette in the navigator's justification. "WHO used to be a pirate hunter?"

"We needed to restock, didn't we?" Nami growled, ignoring Sanji's comment, in defense of their current predicament. "And there's no land in sight for another week's trip."

She returned her attention to large crowd in front of them. "Besides…" she smirked, her grip on her wooden weapon tightening. "You've been complaining about our lack of ass kicking."

Zoro glanced at her, about to retort when Luffy's juvenile voice cut him off.

"Why do they hate us so much?"

Any potential argument about to take place between Zoro and Nami right then and there ceased completely.

Usopp, currently hiding behind a vendor off to the side of the normally busy street, peeked his head over the souvenirs, surprised at their captain's question.

The entire crew gaped at him.

Nami felt the urge to yell at him - to scream and chastise him for even inquiring such a thing. '_Is he really THAT dumb?_'

But another part of her yearned to run to him and wrap his frown up in her arms, protecting him from any harm and prejudice coming their way. '_How could anyone hate you, Luffy?_'

"Because they don't know any better," she found herself saying.

Luffy turned to look at her.

She smiled a sad smile. "They're biased, Luffy. And they're greedy."

"Just like us," Zoro muttered.

For some reason, that struck a nerve. Images of Arlong suddenly flashed across her memory - snapshots of moments when her crew came to her rescue.

"_Nothing_ like us," she replied angrily, her knuckles clasping her staff so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "We _wear _our souls. We don't hide. We fight."

Silence ensued at her proclamation.

Luffy looked confused. "Nami…"

A boisterous laughter snapped the One Piece crew from their muddled thoughts on Nami's sudden remarks.

One of the men that surrounded them, a particularly shady and overweight fellow with gold teeth to match his many rings and his gluttonous heart, sneered at her.

"That's how you justify all your wrongs?" he goaded, taking a step toward her. "By stating that your _honest_ in your wrongs?"

"C'mon, then," she challenged, eyes blazing. "I dare you tell us to not be who we are. I dare you to oppress us. _Tell us to walk through fire_."

Sanji threw his smoke to the cement and ground it with the heel of his right shoe.

He looked up, flashing a flirtatious smile at Nami. "I'd take that dare."

Zoro unsheathed his swords swiftly, a grin spread across his lips. "Fuck, I'd walk through all seven Hells if someone thinks they can stop me from doing what I'm doing."

Usopp immediately jumped up from his hiding spot and joined his teammates side, albeit with quivering knees.

"We may not do good things, but o-one thing we're not a-are liars," he exclaimed.

Zoro arched an eyebrow at his declaration.

"Uh…" Usopp struggled. "T-that is…we never mean any harm to anyone who c-crosses paths with ours…?"

A vein was visibly throbbing from Nami's forehead.

"Usopp?" she called sweetly through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Nami?"

Her glare was burning a hole through the sharpshooter's head. "Shut. Up."

"Um, okay."

Sanji cleared his throat.

"Now," Nami twirled her staff effortlessly. "Where were we?"

"We were just about to walk through fire!" Luffy announced.

Nami glimpsed at her captain. '_Does he understand…?_'

Her captain beamed at her, eyes full of light and everything that was good left in this world. "Let them try and stop us!"

She stared at him and nodded in agreement.

"Attack!"

Luffy stretched his arms.

Sanji kicked up his feet.

Usopp took out his sling shot.

Zoro swung his swords.

Nami thrust her staff.

They didn't walk through fire.

They charged through it, bearing their souls.

And everything burned.

Heat never felt so pure.

_**(A/N): Soooo…what do think? SUPER short, I know. But I just had to get it out of my system. This is also a little sign to my readers to let them know I'm NOT dead, and I'm still working on ALL of my fics. Don't worry. Hopefully, I'll be able to update all of them by the new year.**_


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